When it comes to the social service expression, which is what the Army is known for, that just grows and grows all the time. Because need grows almost exponentially. It's not possible to keep up with it all, but our programmes continue to be innovative and imaginative.
While some needs remain constant - homelessness, hunger, poverty - there are new phenomena that come up on the scene. Recently the human trafficking situation has been laying heavily in our hearts as a worldwide Salvation Army, and especially here in the United Kingdom.
How will you prepare for future unexpected disasters?
The Army has been deeply caught up in all of those. We're usually the first on the scene. I hope it doesn't sound like boasting! It's just a statement and a simple fact. We are an army - therefore we can mobilise very rapidly. We don't live by committees. We have a structure, which I suppose we'll describe as autocratic. So it is possible to respond rapidly.
Here in London for example, on July 7th, when the explosion took place on the transportation system, the army was the first on the scene and stayed throughout. The mass fatality response that swung into action then was written by a Salvation Army officer who specialises in that field of human service. So we felt really proud about that.
The Tsunami stretched our resources considerably. We are networked globally, so we can all turn to where the point of need is. The Salvation Army in this country raised well over 2 million U.S dollars in two or three weeks, which was devoted entirely to that, and contributions were taken from the Army worldwide. It was phenomenally impressive.
Currently The Salvation Army operates in 111 countries. As you prepare for office, do you plan on expanding the territory beyond this, and if so, which countries spring to mind?
There are certain sensitivities that exist where an organisation like The Salvation Army is considering starting work in a country where we haven't been present.
First of all, what would the existing churches in that country feel about the arrival of The Salvation Army? Or to put that in another way, are we needed?
Are we the right people? What would be our legal status? Will the government be welcoming towards us?
For example, we have a very high number of community projects in China, but we are not allowed to function as an evangelical mission in China. We are happy with that situation in China for now. However, we do prefer to be able to express the totality of the gospel and openly preach the word of God as well as serving the needs of humanity.
We are constantly reviewing the numbers of countries in which we do different works. The crucial fact is, of course, financial resources for such work, before it eventually becomes self-supporting.
